Can You Help Me Lie?
by TheDevilsWitness
Summary: Starts during Four's initiation. Dauntless is about being brave, right? Four is finding out the hard way just how difficult it is to be brave. He is going against nearly his entire faction to save a child that most of them would rather see dead. (Better than the description I promise!)
1. Chapter 1

Can you Help me Lie?

Chapter One

_Dear sister, can you help me lie?  
I've told the truth so many years  
No one seems to wanna hear that  
I'm not someone else inside_

_I've been along this lonely road  
Looks like I'm not coming home  
But I don't mind, please don't cry_

_~Dear Sister - The Pretty Reckless~_

His eyes followed the child as the little thing moved around the cafeteria, she was a scrawny munchkin that should have been with her mother instead of wondering around yet she would pause every time she saw an empty seat at a table only to be waved away by the nicer of the people and shoved away by others. The girl had a natural little pout to her lips and big brown eyes that didn't seem to stay still, no one talked to her they just waved her off not wanting to bother with the child. He looked at Zeke, who was sitting across the table from him, "what do you think is going on there?"

Zeke sighed lightly, "that's Vesta. She's about four now her family kicked her out because she was born deaf and they didn't notice it until she was about two. No one will take her in… anyone that has tried has been threatened by Max to have their own children taken away so she is turned out again because of her "weakness". It's shit really she's just a kid, she normally has to wait until everyone is done eating before she gets to and well no one knows where she goes at night. Every time she tries to go back to her mother… well lets just say she is lucky she doesn't have any bruises right now."

Four blanched the hair on his arms standing on end giving him gooseflesh for a moment as he thought of his father for a moment. No matter how violent it had gotten he'd never been kicked out, he'd always had a bed, and he'd always known at the very least he wouldn't end up dead. He looked at the little girl wondering still her brunette hair tangled and hanging down her back; she was filthy which was no shock to him considering what Zeke had just told him. He stood up then and moved over to the child and she shrunk back as he offered his hand to her, she was obviously waiting to get hit for not sitting to the side waiting for the non-damaged people to eat.

Vesta looked up at him slowly when his hand didn't lash out not knowing that the room was nearly dead silent since that was the world she lived in to begin with. Her brown eyes went to his hand staring at it for a moment before she looked up at him trying to see what was so different about this male, Four looked away for a split second but as soon as he felt that tiny hand in his he gave her a gentle half smile and let his hand hold hers he led her over to the table he'd been at, helping her into the seat next to his before he sat back down next to Amar only to have both him and Zeke look at him for a moment.

"It's not her fault how she was born… She is a baby; it shouldn't be the way it is. No one will help her because they are afraid to lose their family and I don't have one," he informed them as he put together some food for the little girl before handing her his fork since he didn't have a second one. "What are they going to do kick me out for feeding a little girl?"

"You better hope they don't, Max doesn't like weakness, Four. Everyone sees Vesta as weak; she's had a few scares… Her older brother held her over the chasm, they all but torture the poor girl, and the only thing Max will disallow is killing her. To him she isn't good enough for Dauntless but she could be thrown to another faction when she is sixteen," Amar told him with a shake of his head, he'd been the one to keep Veles from dropping his baby sister into the water and effectively killing her and until he'd told Max why he'd hit the brat it had been a common belief that he would have been kicked out of the faction. It was after that when Max informed all of Dauntless that in order to make her strong enough to pass off to another faction she was not to be killed but other then that she was fair game though no one was supposed to help her, she had to do it all on her own from the age of three. Everyone was surprised she'd lived this long to be honest. Amar was pretty sure the girl knew every hidden spot and dark corner of Dauntless not that he would admit it, but he knew a few of her hiding spots and he often left little things for her in them.

Four shook his head his blue eyes glimmering with anger, "she is a kid no one should keep her from eating at the _very_ least."

The girl was eating quickly though and Four was worried she was going to make herself sick, obviously she hadn't had a hot or probably even just a warm meal in so long that she was afraid he would take it from her. He watched her for a moment how was he going to communicate with her? She wouldn't know how to read and he didn't have a way of talking to her since she couldn't hear him. He continued to take her in though watching her silently, her little hands were soft though they weren't plump like they should have been in a child of her age, she was too skiny he was sure if her shirt lifted up he would be able to count her ribs, and she looked tired as well as dirty now that he saw her up close. The poor thing probably hadn't had a proper nights sleep in a long time worrying that someone would hurt her.

Four made sure she got a piece of cake even knowing the child probably had never had a single piece and as Max stood making a speech Four didn't even notice the little girl slip away from the table going out into the hall and away before she could be stopped. Amar watched her leaving knowing the child was on the way to one of her hiding spots since Max would have seen her at the table. Amar would have to be very careful with it but he would make sure Four didn't get in trouble with this; he'd been through enough in his life just like the little girl he was trying to take care of. The poor child was starving and they all knew it but they were afraid of what Max would do to them and their families if they helped her.

Amar looked at Four, he was a kind heart under it all a true Abnegation if there ever was one. Soon though they were leaving the cafeteria and he told the transfers to explore since training would start the next day. He gave Four a look and moved his head in a 'follow me' motion before walking towards The Pit without checking to make sure the boy was following. "It was admirable what you did for her but Vesta… Max doesn't even like it when people look at her I'll do my best to convince him that it was because you are new here… If you want to help her I'll tell you where she hides at night. I leave her things there, clothes that are big enough for her, food, I've left her a few books but she won't learn to read them until she is old enough to go to the school, I'm going to get her to Amity for it. One of them has a child that was born deaf and she knows how to talk to him with her hands. She'll be able to teach Vesta, if you asked her I'm sure she would teach you too. Just… don't get attached to her, Four. Max isn't going to let her stay, he will make sure her life is hell here so she goes someplace else during her choosing."

"You'll allow it to happen?"

"It's complicated," Amar told him with a sigh as they walked through The Pit, it was mostly empty right now and the sound of their shoes hitting the ground vibrated through the air in a delicate symphony that bounced around and off of the walls. "I don't think its right by any means, what he is doing to her. What he has already done to her and what I know he will continue doing to her but I don't want to end up one of the factionless either. That is why the most I can do for her is leave her things in her hiding spots; it's also why I'm warning you now. I can't protect you if you keep publicly helping her, Four.

Four shook his head and sighed, "I can't not help her, and she is just a kid…"

"And it's too much like what happened to you?" Amar suggested quietly, of course he'd seen his fears he knew who his father was and what had happened in the boy's past. Still Four was only sixteen and he didn't need to take on trying to take care of a four-year-old while going through his initiation, if Max found out he would make sure he failed out no mater how well he did.

Vesta watched them from near the wall in her wide-eyed way standing stock-still, as she'd learned weeks ago helped to make sure they didn't notice her. She often hid in the shadows here watching people and because of it she'd seen many things she shouldn't have seen at all. She was invested in these two right now, they'd both helped her and she knew they had even if she hadn't seen Amar leave the things she'd seen him walking away from her hiding spots, no one else had taken the time to try and find her so she was safe mostly in the night.

"Where does she hide then?" he asked the older male only to have him say that he would bring him there. Amar started to lead him away knowing Vesta was following them despite the fact that she was deaf she walked quietly enough that unless he really tried he couldn't hear her and apparently neither could Four since the boy near jumped out of his skin when the tiny girl reached up wrapping her tiny hand around his fingers. Four knelt down then gently wrapping his arms around the child picking her up surprising the little thing but she did wrap her arms around his neck leaning into him as he carried her following Amar who was trying to ignore the fact that he was doing exactly the opposite of what he'd told him to.

Amar ducked into a hall before sliding a box out of the way near the middle of a thin dark hall revealing an opening with what looked like a nest of old blankets and clothes, all of them were filthy and further down the hall there was a putrid smell, she clearly used some place down the hall as her bathroom. "She can't keep living like this…"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Vesta looked up at him and shook her little head her tangle of brunette hair swaying over her back, Four motioned once more trying to get her to come over to the shower in the transfers barracks. She shook her head again a little fear in her eyes as she looked at him and that shower before going back to him and watching as the man sighed in exasperation he was only trying to help her after all. He couldn't tell her that though, she wouldn't have understood him since she couldn't hear him to begin with. He grumbled out, he couldn't help it… how could this girl be so stubborn. Then again she had let him pick her up and carry her just days before so surely if he showed her he wasn't going to hurt her she would trust him to get her cleaned up.

He stood for a moment before turning the shower off; maybe that was why she was freaking out. He didn't know if she'd ever had a bath in the time that she could remember, not after being alone for so long. Yet as he looked at her when the water was off she did seem to calm down or at least she didn't look like she was about to run any second. _Okay Four you need to go slow, maybe comb out her hair first, _he thought and stooped down grabbing the comb from where he'd left it on the floor. He made his way over to her before sitting on the floor so he was closer to eye to eye with the little one. Four held the comb out to her just letting it sit in his palm so she could see it and know that it wasn't something to be afraid of. The child reached out her tiny fingers moving over the tines of the comb before she watched him bring the comb up to his head and show her what the comb was for. Vesta watched him for second her sweet little face thinking of it for a moment before she nodded.

The male reached up gently turning her so he could easily see the side of her head, he'd never combed long hair before though so when he tried to start from the top of her head he was nearly shocked to see how much it pulled and yanked at her head and he didn't realize how much it was hurting her until his hand brushed against one of her little cheeks getting a little hot tear on the back of his hand. Four took her little arm in a gentle grip turning her to face him he saw the tears on her cheeks; he hadn't meant to hurt her in the least. She was quiet as she let those fat tears drip down from her big brown eyes though and Four could feel a pain growing in his chest, his heart breaking for this poor little creature. She was a circumstance of her own birth. He gently brushed the tears from her cheeks and wasn't surprised at all when doing so left a clean streak over her face.

Vesta looked at him and he was surprised she didn't run from him for him hurting her even if he didn't mean too. The tiny child kept her eyes on him though which was a good thing for her since one of the Dauntless born initiates came into the room, Shauna knew what he was doing for the little girl. Zeke hadn't tried to hide it from the girl at all; he was impressed by Four trying to stick up for the little girl even if he was worried that Max would do something against him because of it. "She knows me I've been here and I didn't help her then so she won't trust me now, but you need to start from the bottom of her hair and work your way up Four. Like this," she told him and picked up a lock of her own hair holding tight to the middle of it. "Hold it tight so if it yanks on a tangle it doesn't yank on her scalp. When you finish with the bottom part move your hand up and brush out the middle section then you can carefully brush out the top part without hurting her too much."

Four reached out taking her hair how Shauna told him and brushed out the end right in front of Vesta's face so she could see he was doing it again and it wasn't hurting her this time. The little girl watched the comb snag on a tangle but she still didn't feel it as he worked the knot out of her hair so she nodded again and turned sideways like she had been before so he could do what he needed to her hair. "Thanks Shauna, I didn't mean to hurt her but at least she didn't run. Do you know why she wouldn't want to get in the shower?"

"Well like most of the factions Dauntless kids take baths until they are about five or six so the last time she was cleaned it was in a tub and her mother tried to drown her Max had been visiting her dad and stopped her mother just short of killing her. That was when Max said they needed to kick her out of the house to fend for herself. Then her brother held her over the chasm and she was staring down at the river, I think she is afraid of all water unless it's in a cup. I mean I would be too if that happened to me when I was so young. You got lucky that she stayed in the room I think," Shauna told him as she sat on one of the beds in the room watching as Four slowly got through the first lock of hair without hurting the little girl more than she had been already. "You are braver then most Four, taking care of her like this. I'll help you get her cleaned up though; she is going to fight us when it comes to her hair though since her head will be under the water it'll scare her…"

Her own mother had tried to drown her? Fuck his heart was breaking for this little girl, no matter what Marcus had done to him; he'd never tried to kill him. So far the only one of her family that he hadn't been told tried to kill her was her father and he was to the point that he was just waiting for that one to fall into his lap too. If two of her family members had tried to kill her, what had her father tried to do to her? She was trusting him though and she even trusted Amar to a point so it couldn't have been too terrible, right? "People will talk when she is cleaned up."

"Let them, she needs to be clean and to learn that not everyone is out to kill her. That and the fact that not all water is bad," Shauna informed him with a grin. "You know unless you plan for her to run around looking like a mud-pie for the rest of her life." The girl opened the trunk at the end of the bed she was sitting on searching for another comb, she didn't find one in that trunk so she moved to a different one before she found a comb and moved over to help. Vesta jumped slightly her little heart hammering in her thin chest to a painful rhythm. She quickly twisted her head jerking the hair in Four's hand; the poor thing had nearly jumped out of her skin and he didn't know how to make it better. He'd just pulled her hair even if it was because of her but at least she hadn't run, that would have been horrible.

Vesta stood there staring at Shauna who just smiled and gently combed at the little girl's hair. The girl looked like a rabbit about to dart away for a few minutes until she realized that at least for the moment Shauna wasn't going to try to hurt her. With the both of them working on her hair though it was all combed out within an hour which at least wasn't as bad as it could have been if it had been just him working on her hair. "How do we get her in the shower now?"

"I suggest turning the shower on putting the wash cloth under it and clean her as much here as possible, slowly get her to move closer to it, maybe try and play with her splash her a little bit…" Shauna suggested it would probably be the only way to get her comfortable before they had to get her under the water to take care of her hair and then she would probably be screaming at the top of her lungs even if she couldn't hear it, everyone had heard her when her brother Veles had held her over the chasm yet it was only Amar who'd stepped in. Vesta had run as fast as she could to her hiding place when Amar had saved her.

"Keep combing even if we are done so she doesn't run when the shower starts," Four told the older girl and watched as she went back to combing the child's hair.

He got up and started the water once more waiting for it to get warm before he got a cloth wet and scrubbed some soap into it until he had a good lather going and he moved back to the girl taking a little hand in one of his taking it in for a second. His hand was so much bigger than hers it felt like he was holding onto a breakable doll's hand. He could hurt her so easily, didn't she know that? He ran his thumb over her soft little hand, what if he turned up like his father? He wasn't sure any of this was a good idea but he knew she needed someone to protect her and care for her and he'd been the only one so far that had been up for the job. It wasn't until he'd really started to try and help her that even the Dauntless his own age had tried to help her out. Amar and Max had saved her life and left her to a dismal existence, though Amar tried to help her the most he could. "Four?"

"I don't want to hurt her…" he whispered softly before he gently started to clean her little hand in his palm. Poor sweet little girl, he couldn't risk becoming his father with her around and yet if he stopped caring for her who would?

* * *

He moved over to the table Amar was at sitting next to the man like he normally had, Vesta came in shortly after him. The girl was clean including her hair which was curly when not tangled and dirty, that had surprised both him and Shauna yet according to the older female it was the most adorable thing she'd seen in a long time. It had made Four smile and she was in new clean clothes that he'd begged Amar to get for the girl, the child looked so sweet and innocent even if she was in a little black dress. Little did Four know that Tori had been the one to make that dress for the little girl and she had a few more pieces in the making since he was going to be keeping her clean with Shauna's help.

"Shoes are big on her…" Amar said with a little smile.

"She'll grow into them before we know it," Tori said softly. "I think she is adorable in it though." She looked at the girl once more and smirking she may have been wearing a cute little dress but the shoes were an old pair of Shauna's that she gave to the girl. Not like she was going to get her feet to fit back in them anyhow, still she was wearing little combat boots with her dress and it was so cute it wasn't even right.

Four smiled to the little girl as she looked around, people were staring at her. Amar saw the look on the younger man's face; Four already loved the little girl. She was good for him that sweet little deaf girl, she didn't trust many people and she had every right not to. At the same point though she was trusting Four more than she had anyone else in the year she had been out of her home. She saw Four and smiled before running right to him wrapping her scrawny little arms around his middle before he lifted her up onto the bench seat. Shauna smiled at Four, "you won't hurt her."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

His eyes opened quickly, his irises being taken over by his pupils for the moment as they took in the darkness surrounding him. Everyone was asleep still, around the room came even breaths, murmurs of sleep talking, one guy was snoring at least that hadn't started until after the rest of them had been asleep, and the girl in the bed next to the one he'd picked -because it was the closest to the door- was chewing on the pillow she was cuddling. He'd learned when he got there not to ask questions about anything like that anymore, it just weirded him out when he got an answer. He scrubbed his hands over his face using the heels of his palms to rub the sleep from his eyes as he yawned. He sat up slowly with a groan, mornings had always been his time… he could avoid his father if he was careful and he was right off to school when he could time it right.

Four swung his legs over the side of his bed letting his bare feet touch the cold stone floor before he got up and moved to use the facilities as quietly as possible. He moved back to his bed changing into his training clothes so he could get some work done before training with the others began in a few hours. He fell back onto his bed pulling his socks on but when he went to reach for his shoes which he'd put under his bed he caught sight of a tiny bit of black fabric from under that bed. He slowly leaned forward looking to see what had ended up under there that he couldn't remember putting there only to see that sweet child asleep. She must have thought he would protect her and of course he would though it would have helped if he'd known she was there to begin with too.

A half smile crooked over his face before he finished putting those shoes on and knelt down reaching towards her so that he could gently touch her shoulder. He was trying to be kind, not to scare her, but the girl awoke with a start her dark eyes going wide before quickly landing on him. He watched her visibly calm down as she looked to him and he motioned with both hands for her to come out from her hiding spot. The child nodded as she gave a cute little yawn that winkled her little nose before she crawled out from under the bed before getting to her feet in front of him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Four wrapped his arms around her one arm easily slipping under her rump for her to sit on as his other hand gently went to her head to keep her from tilting back as he stood up, his fingers sliding into her soft curls as the girl let her head fall to his shoulder as she started to slowly fall asleep once more. He smiled and kissed her cheek as he moved with her towards the hall he reached out letting go of his touch on her curls as he grabbed a discarded blanket from an unused bed on his way out. He did his best to wrap her in that warm blanket with just one hand as he could, how did parents do things like this when their children were young? He was careful with her, trying not to drop her as they moved towards the training room. He would keep her with him in there easily so he could keep an eye on her, he was still worried about what Max would do to her and to him but he wasn't going to let her get hurt again… Not by him, not by her faction.

As they got to the training room he moved over to one of the walls holding the child carefully once more as he knelt down and she woke up slightly making a little whimpering noise as he put her feet on the ground and she slowly sat down with a little yawn. Her dark eyes watched him as he moved away towards the training floor right to the punching bag, she yawned once more cuddling into the blanket he'd wrapped around her as he hit the bag. She could see the thing swing a little on the chain it was connected to before swinging back to him and he hit it again making it swing once more.

Four took solace in the rhythm of his heart beating in his ears, the light whoosh of the bag sliding away from him and back to him before the demanding thud of his fist hitting the soft leather. A light whoosh returned then as well as a tiny creaking sound that accompanied the chain moving over head. The repetitive sounds mixed with his heart beat nearly had him in a trance even if his eyes did swing over to Vesta every few hits. It was like clockwork his blue eyes sweeping over to her taking her in as the girl tried to fight off sleep thinking she had to be up because he was but soon enough her head was tilted forward and she was dead asleep sitting there. He smiled lightly and continued to hit the bag, "You've really come to care about her already."

Four looked at Amar as the older male walked into the training room, "I guess… I'm still worried though about how I might end up with her."

"You aren't your father, Four. Vesta isn't yours. You have already shown her so much kindness that she has never seen in her short life here. You are her family already, she loves you and you know you love her too. I've seen it, your friends have seen it, Max has seen it…" Amar told him softly making the boy freeze up. "Don't worry I've talked him down from kicking you out and making you Factionless, I may have even gotten him to see that if he tries to get rid of Vesta now that you would follow right after her and you have the most potential of all the initiates this time around. He's not going to chance loosing you but he won't let her stay when she turns sixteen."

"In other words if she picks Dauntless he will find a way to make her Factionless," Four said with a sigh as he looked at the little girl who was asleep sitting up still. She should never have been hurt like she was and he could only take care of her for twelve years or until he turned out just like his father and Amar got the child away from him. "She won't want to go anywhere else Amar. Not with me being the only family she has really known…"

"I know we'll figure it out as we go though. We have a few years yet, when you are a full member of Dauntless I'll bring you to meet the woman that has the deaf boy to set up you two being able to learn to talk to each other, which will mean going to Amity every day though, and you can't skip your duties here either though Four."

"Can't have it easy right?" Four asked him with a shake of his head as he looked over at the girl. "She's worth it but… I get angry sometimes Amar… I could hurt her and I would never even notice it. She would never trust anyone again," Four said and Amar nodded agreeing with him silently. "I'm lucky she trusted me at all and even now it's not with everything."

"She will Four, you are the first person she has trusted at all with the things she has been through."


End file.
